Today, while in the car driving to work listening to NPR, I heard a special about a research study which is asking people to intentionally give themselves the flu. The way it works is, you show up a clinic, they blow flu viruses up your nose (literally), then you sit in a clinic for a week while you - presumably - get the flu and they measure a million things about you. On the surface of course, this seems absurd. I mean, you do get paid, but at first glance most people would think “who would volunteer for that?” But it’s an interesting measure of the world we live in and my mental state that my first thought was “gosh, that sounds relaxing”. I honestly had a moment where I felt like it might be nice to just sit and have the flu for a week. No responsibilities - illness, since childhood, has represented a type of freedom. You can get nothing done and nobody faults you for it. And I am not alone - one of the two broadcasters said the same thing, that it sounded nice. Think about that: we’re so busy, and so obsessed with being seen as productive, that being sick becomes appealing just because it gives us permission to slow down. The right answer of course is that we should be able to get the benefits of being sick without actually making ourselves physically ill.
